The second day of ARTmania festival 2010 started for us in the same way we ended the previous one: running. There were a lot of things to do, watch and listen during the three days of the fest, but it was almost impossible to check them all out. So, in this article I’ll tell you about how the concerts from day two went (Sirenia, Dark Tranquillity and Serj Tankian) and you will have the chance to read some more additional stuff in an extra article that will follow up this one.

In the early morning we went to catch Sirenia’s press conference and after the discussion we had with Morten, we were glad to find out that the band has now a stable formation and their working on a new material (interview with Morten will follow up soon). After this we had a short break while we visited some monuments near the festival perimeter we returned to the press conferences area where Mikael, Niklas and the other guys from Dark Tranquillity arrived after a few minutes. They talked about their latest release, We are the void, about the show, the playlist and the projections made for it. The heat was less intense than in the previous day and everyone felt more comfortable.

After the press conference, we caught Serj on his rehearsals with the band and the orchestra and there were already some people gathering to watch his preparations. He had the most crowded press conference, but he was very open, very kind and responded to all the questions asked (more info as well in a future article). We spend the rest of day visiting the Bruckental National Museum (where there was a special Gothic exhibition: Gothic revival Experience vs. Enlightenment Patterns) and trying some local beer specialties.

The concerts were opened by Sirenia, short after 7 PM and they had a pretty big crowd which cheered them on the whole duration of the show. Aylin has integrated well inside the band and her voice sounds very well live and she had no problems in performing new or old songs, although the voice was again in some moments behind the instruments. Morten was responsible for most of the communication with the audience, and the band was more than happy with the welcome of the Romanian fans (and I saw some foreign flag in the public as well) and they promised to return. Michael had some problem with the guitar at the second song, but was solved quickly and the show didn’t stop. From the songs I can mention The path to decay, The 7th summer, The other side, Sundown. After leaving the stage, the public was still chanting their name so they returned for one more song.

After Sirenia’s performance, the stage was covered with a large Dark Tranquillity banner and I was personally very eager to see their show, after watching the live DVD “Where death is most alive” – filmed in Milano which has a great atmosphere, excellent interpretation and a fanatic crowd. I was curios if I would get to see with my own eyes that sort of performance. And yes I did! After the first one or two songs I was afraid that the sound problems from Kamelot will be again present because Stanne’s voice was behind the instruments and the guitars the same. All I could hear were the keyboards and the drums. Luckily, the problems were fixed fast and in the end Dark Tranquillity had the best sound in that day. Mikael is a great frontman, full of energy and with an incredible voice – we ran on all the duration of the concert, communicating constantly with the audience and being visible thrilled by the crowd that was screaming the band’s name and singed along (yeah, like we could ever sing like that…). The solos could be heard perfectly, and Niklas and Martin did a terrific job. (The other) Martin’s keyboard added great atmosphere to the songs while the blast beats were encouraging you to go wild. Well selected playlist with Iridium, The lesser faith, Terminus (where death is most alive), Misery’s Crown, Focus shift, Lost to apathy, Final resistance, The wonders at your feet, ThereIn or Lethe and The Gallery. For me was one of those unique moments, where there’s nothing besides you, the stage and the music and when shivers are going through your spine while the songs are continuing to flow in somehow a too quick way. Great band, awesome performance and many promises for a quick return.

Serj Tankian was clearly the main attraction of the festival and he had the highest attendance. On the stage was a true marching of forces with many members (two guitar players, keyboardist and so on, among the orchestra). For the peoples who were waiting for him to sing System of a Down songs, the show might be a disappointment, but Serj now clearly wants to go in a different direction, his style is not resumed strictly to rock anymore and the political message is the one that counts. He appeared dressed very modest on the stage, with jeans and a shirt and he transmitted various messages to the public: from hate to the people who stole public belongings after the communism fell, to tolerance (“Natural disasters don’t have borders, Trees don’t have borders so why should we have borders?”) or “Power to the people”. He also thanked for the warm welcome, pretty faces with lots of smiles (J), food and he also said that the landscapes were reminding him of his home country. The playlist included Sky is over, Empty walls, The unthinking majority, Feed us, Baby or Lie Lie Lie. Although the crowd demanded with insistence one more song after Serj left the stage, there was no additional song.

As an overview, this year edition of ARTmania had a lot of musical diversity and there were little chances for every metalhead not to find something on his/her taste. From the cool performance of Dark Tranquillity to the long awaited Serj Tankian show and decent Sirenia opening, the 2nd day of the festival finished with Romanian act (Grimus) playing in one of the local pubs.

Very good organization this year, so congrats to everyone involved. Hopefully, next year edition will bring new names, exciting performances and consolidate the ARTmania brand.

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